Chris Froome won the battle but on the evidence of the Col du Béal on Monday afternoon, the war will be harder won than it was a year ago, both at the Critérium du Dauphiné and at next month’s Tour de France.

Froome pointed to his yellow jersey after he saw off the challenge of Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) in the finishing straight and he could indeed be pleased with his own performance as he claimed his second stage victory in as many days and moved 12 seconds clear of the Spaniard in the overall standings.

An elite six-man group formed under Froome’s impetus in the final five kilometres of racing, and even within that lofty company, the hierarchy was clear, as Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) coughed up 27 seconds on the final haul to the line. Contador, however, was able to match Froome pedal stroke for pedal stroke almost to the summit. His fine spring form, it seems, has transferred through to summer.

“I gave everything today. In such a climb, it became a great battle with Alberto Contador. We rode flat out,” Froome said. “It was really tough between the two of us. I've tried to attack him a couple of times but he was very strong. Everyone here is almost at the same level as at the Tour de France. Today it was our first duel with the two of us in form, so I'm delighted to win in these circumstances.”

The impressive Wilco Kelderman (Belkin) moves up to third overall, 21 seconds off Froome, while Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) was also very prominent in the finale and now lies in fourth place, 33 seconds back.

Froome and Contador

After winning the opening day time trial in Lyon, Froome was looking to put a significant down payment on final overall victory on the Dauphiné’s first summit finish, and his Sky team duly dictated the terms and conditions on the lower slopes of the Col du Béal, with Geraint Thomas particularly prominent in whittling down the leading group.

When last man Mikel Nieve swung over with a shade over five kilometres to go, Froome launched his long-anticipated acceleration. Just like on Mont Ventoux at last year’s Tour, the seated Froome cut a decidedly awkward figure as he attempted to break clear, but unlike last July, he was unable to rid himself of the persistent Contador.

Indeed, Contador was the only man who could withstand each of Froome’s accelerations on the final haul to the summit, as the leading group fragmented and reformed under his impetus – Nibali, Wilco Kelderman (Belkin), Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) and Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto Belisol) were the others who found themselves out in front after Froome began his onslaught.

Tellingly, Contador never once deigned to track anyone else’s attacks, allowing Froome to drag him back up to Wilco Kelderman (Belkin) and Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) when they launched fierce efforts of their own after latching back on to the leading group.

Inside the final kilometre, Froome kicked once again, determined to shake off Contador almost as a point of pride. On two further occasions, Contador dealt impressively with Froome’s forcing, but in the final 200 metres, he was unable to summon up the strength to come around the Briton, who claimed his second stage win in as many days.

The resolute Kelderman battled gamely to take third on the stage, 4 seconds down, while Talansky and Van Den Broeck also limited their losses in the closing kilometre. For Vincenzo Nibali, however, after an assured start, the finale turned into something of an ordeal. He was dropped after the second of Froome’a attacks but fought back on in the company of Talansky, but after grimly holding on for three kilometres, he conceded 27 seconds in the last 800 metres.

Early break

The stage was animated by a five-man break featuring Thomas Damuseau (Giant-Shimano), Kevin Reza (Europcar), Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Alessandro De Marchi (Cannondale) and Matthias Brändle (IAM Cycling), which broke clear on the opening climb of the day and stayed out in front until the lower slopes of the final ascent, the hors catégorie Col du Béal.

The quintet collaborated smoothly over the rolling terrain, where Reza led over each of the first five categorised climbs, but with Team Sky maintaining a brisk tempo at the head of the bunch, their lead was never allowed to extend beyond four minutes, and it was already disintegrated as they hit the final haul to the line.

After Vasil Kiryienka and Danny Pate’s earlier work, Geraint Thomas took over the pace-making for Sky at the base of the Béal and his impressive stint managed to whittle the yellow jersey group down to 40 riders. After consulting with Froome, Richie Porte swung off before it was his turn to lead the line, however, and the Australian’s travails will only add to the furore surrounding Bradley Wiggins’ expected exclusion from the Sky Tour team.

Even so, Mikel Nieve took up the baton resolutely from Thomas, and the Spaniard’s 2.5km turn on the front managed to shed the likes of Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) from the front group, and peg back De Marchi, the last survivor from the early break. When Nieve had burnt the last of his matches, Froome came surging through with a fierce acceleration of his own, an effort that rid Contador and Nibali of their remaining teammates, and turned the race into hand-to-hand combat over the final five kilometres.

Nibali battled gamely but was clearly struggled to answer the questions posed by Froome. Contador, by contrast, looked far more comfortable, even if he never managed to put Froome on the back foot.

Meanwhile, Van Den Broeck had a reassuring afternoon after a difficult start to his season, while the youngsters Talansky and Kelderman gave further notice of their maturing talent, as did British neo-professional Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEdge), who recovered well towards the summit to take 8th on the stage.

For others – including Tejay van Garderen, who lost three minutes – it was a trying afternoon. For Froome and Contador, however, the Col du Béal may just have been the opening act of a summer-long duel.

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